Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

Lifestyle Wedding, Fashion & Beauty
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Now that I’m starting to seriously look for photographers for my wedding…and after having an intersting meeting with one tonight…I really am curious about this. Often I’ve seen bridal pictures posted here that were taken from various photographers websites, photographres FB profile, or other blogs (where it was posted by the photographer). And I’ve seen the posts where either the bride herself or a cousin or some “friend” gets upset that the pics are posted in a public forum.

How many of you actually have the copyrights to your wedding pics? I know in many cases…the parents book the vendors so if your parents have the copyright, that counts too.

For those of you who’re engaged…do you plan on finding a photographer who will give you the copyright? How important is this to you?

** Note: I’m NOT referring to pics that are taken from private FB or flickr albums. I’m specifically referring to pics posted only by professional photographers who have “worked” that wedding.

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

Most photographer usually handover DVD and grant copyright to you to make copy. Sometime when I print pics of professional photographer (from pakistan) at walmart, they always bother me at checkout and asked me to show copyrights which i never have in written form.

i will suggest you to ask your photographer to grant you copyright in written document.

P.S. legally, picture taken by photographer is considered his work, it is all up to him to allow you make copies.

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

STA: No. There are photographers that will give you copyrights to pictures they take at your weddings. This means you, as the client, have the copyright and the photographer can not publish those pictures without your consent. BUT...there are photographers who will retain the copyright which gives them the right to publish the pictures at their will. Legally....its not who takes the pictures...but who has the actual copyright. A photographer can take pictures at my wedding and sign a contract which states that the copyright for the pictures are owned by me. Thus, he gives up his right to publish those pics without my authorization.

Yes, I will definately hire a photographer who will agree to hand copyright in the contract. Fiance & I do not want the photographer to advertise by using pics from our event on their website, blog, or FB without our specific consent.

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

Paheli, I was looking over contracts from wedding photographers and one I looked at actually retained the copyright. I sent the contract back to them saying that I require a contract which gives me copyrights otherwise you cannot have my business

Just make sure to read the fine print.

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

owning the copyrights to your wedding photos is super important if you want the freedom to make copies as and when you please. otherwise, you'll forever be paying them to make copies for you and its going to end up costing you more. most professional photographers will hand over copyrights to you but the general understanding is that they will use your pictures in their portfolio and/or on their blog/fb page. i find that a very reasonable trade-off. why wouldn't you allow them that, paheli? after all, they shot your wedding and you are a part of their portfolio and body of work and they should be able to display that as they wish. if you have a good experience and relationship with them, i see no harm; it seems quite harsh to restrict them in that regard. i'm just curious, no offense intended.

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

Demesne: Yep…that’s one the 1st questions I ask since I started contacting vendors earlier this week. Some have told me immediately that their standard contract will give me copyrights to all the pics. Others have told me they retain it. The ones that have told me that they retain the copyright and are not willing to budge on that “policy”…they’re not an option for our business. I agree that its very important to read fine prints. :slight_smile:

SCG: No offense taken. Its a control issue regarding to the hundreds of pictures that will be taken. There will be plenty of pics where both of our family members (including fiance’s 4 year old niece) are included. There will be pictures of me getting ready (MU & hair) in my room. When we have them take pics of just the two of us before the reception…I’m sure there will be few pics of us kissing. :wub: And that list goes on. These are just some of the pics that I’d want to keep private and not have them posted on various sites, blogs, FB etc. At the photographer’s request…we will have no problem releasing a few pics of us along with other pics of the decor etc. that the photographer can use to advertise on the internet. But we’d like to retain control of what specific pics are being released. Of course…there is absolutely nothing wrong with the photographer scheduling meetings with potential clients, and showing them ALL the pics at the privacy of their own home/studio. We actually met one GREAT photographer earlier this week who has “ok” pics on his web site…but when he went to his studio…he showed us GREAT work (he’s actually pretty well-known in this area…he has shot local celebrity weddings and showed us those pics…his gives copyrights to his clients & thus doesn’t publish them).

I know there will be pics of the wedding posted by friends on FB pages that can easily “get out”. I’m sure I myself will post a few pics here. But the idea of the photographer having control over every single picture makes us uncomfortable.

On a side note: I understand that they’re shooting the wedding and its part of their portfolio…but on the flip side…the ONLY reason they’re shooting my wedding is b/c I’m paying them to take pictures of a private event which is attended by invited guests only. To me it seems unfair that I would not have any control over pictures that I paid them to take (ie. if they retain copyright…they can publish ANY pics they want…and if I contact them and request that a particular pictures not be pubished…they don’t have to respect my wishes if they don’t want to). I could see a “fair” trade-off being if the photographer did an event for free(ie. you shoot an event without being compensated…use those pics to advertise for additional work so that you can get compensated). But if they’re getting paid for it…then I see the trade-off being for them to get the check…and for us to get the pics we paid for. And for the record…no, we’re not looking for a free photographer. :slight_smile: Paid or not…the copyright thing is non-negotiable for us. But I wonder how many desis out ther are aware of this or even care.

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

That's just crazy, I never thought of this. I always assumed that photographers are meant to ask you permission to display your wedding pics and stuff. I know a few photographers who wouldnt dream of using this copyright contract thingy, but obviously some photographers think otherwise, and it's sad that a lot of people dont realise about this risk

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

WOW didn't even think about the copyright issues!

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

Hey all, copyright regulations tend to vary from state to state, country to country, and photographer to photographer, so I think it's a good idea to ask. These days, photographers rely heavily on social media and magazines to promote their work, and it's gone WAAAAY beyond the usual one page ad. Now, they are expected to showcase whole weddings they've photographed, and brides find about photographers through the work they feature on popular blogs and in magazines. It gives them an idea of whether or not they like the photographer before they go into meet him or her in the studio. That's why they want to retain copyright.

That being said, you can specify the extent to which your work is showcased by them, and most photographers will be happy to accomodate you. For example, if you are okay with them showcasing your wedding on every platform, they will be able to use your work on their facebook, blog, in print media and for blog submission. If you say you are comfortable with them showing your photos in studio only, or on their blog only, or just using one or two pictures, you can specify that. Most photographers understand that brides and their families have boundaries, and a lot of people don't want pictures of themselves all lovey dovey all over the internet, so photogs won't use those types anywhere.

As for you being able to print your work out at a printer of your choice. Well, you might have noticed that the CD version of your wedding pictures are EXPENSIVE. That's because they contain high resolution copies of your images for printing, and when you buy one, you are essentially buying your portion of the copyright so to speak. If you are not confident about that, you can always make a quick call to your photographer to confirm.

As a blogger, my experiences has been that photographers always consult the bride before submitting a wedding to me, even if they have posted it on their own facebook page, or blog. If they don't ask, it's because they've already cleared it with the bride to use their images anywhere. Hope this helps!

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

should I be insulted if my pix never ended up on the photographer’s website then. :vivo:

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

re: pricing of cd's being expensive: not always. some photographers will give you the CD rather than any prints or albums at all and then you go ahead and make your own copies. i would personally be more concerned about being charged for a cd of my photographs rather than copyright because honestly you have already paid for their services as a photographer, for them to then withhold your pictures from you for more money would be SO wrong.

as for the images on their blogs, paheli, most will not publish more than 5, at most 10 pictures, on their portfolio or blog sites depending on how well they think the shot looks and which part/s of their work it showcase/highlights. as well, i'm sure any professional photographer will respect your privacy regardless of whether they own the copyrights or not so i would clarify, as you are doing, but i wouldn't necessarily stress about it too much. regarding publishing on external wedding blogs, i can't imagine any professional doing that without obtaining permission from the bride and groom first. no one wants an unhappy client whether it is before, during, or after the event. and yes, you are hiring them and paying them, but that is a choice you are making, right? we had kissing shots too but nothing that we were not comfortable taking and therefore being seen. if it really is an issue then you should reconsider taking those shots in the first place.

i guess i'm speaking from a vendor perspective. my clients don't own the designs i create for their invitations - they pay for the service of a designer and a printer but the designs themselves are copyright me. i guess it doesn't translate the same way for photographers who are capturing personal images.

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

SGC, right, but what I meant was that when you go to Wal-Mart with those CDs and ask for prints, and they ask you if you have copyright for printing, you basically do. I have heard of brides being charged for the CD. Is this wrong? I just assumed it was the norm. Maybe I'll ask some of the photogs I know what their policy is.

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

^ they ask about copyright?? jeez. its not really their bidness, is it? they can't be held liable for it either, i would think.

you should not be charged for cd's for sure. think about it- you've already paid for your pictures as part of the photographer's fees. why on earth would they then charge you again for the pictures? it reeks of scamming the bride and groom.

...
as an aside, walmart for wedding prints? cringe brides to be and past brides, do NOT get your pictures printed at wal-freakin-mart after you'd paid so much for them! go somewhere where they'll make quality prints like Pikto in Toronto, for example, and where all the hard work your photographer has put into editing and colour correcting them actually shows.

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Re: Wedding picture copyright - Do you care who owns it?

SCG: I actually agree with much of what you wrote. I'm a major advocate when it comes to choices. I agree that as the client....it is my choice in hiring the vendor. And as a client, it's upto me to hire a vendor whose policies I agree with. There are many photographers out there who insist on retaining copyrights for pictures they take. I respect their decision to do so and choose not to hire them for my wedding. And I dunno...I think I disagree about the part on not taking pics if I'm not comfortable having them posted online. I think all brides definately want pics of their wedding. Personally, I have specific shots (ie. me kissing hubby, shots of me getting ready, shots with our family members etcc) that I would not be comfortable with all the world to see. But there are many brides who wouldn't want ANY wedding pictures posted online...but that doesn't necessarily mean they shouldn't have wedding pics.

I think you're situation is different. As a vendor who creates designs...I think you have every right to keep copyright of that...as its purely your creation. I think its a different "situation" when a photographer is taking pictures of an event....an event that includes many private moments between the couple and the family members.

Especially for Muslim brides who practice hijab or niqab...if they hold girls only events and hire a female photographer for it......I'd imagine they would not want any of those pics publically released. I dunno.....this is not something I've seen discussed here before so I got curious as to how many brides (or their families) actually care about this.

Asiya: If the photographer owns copyright...that also means that copies can not be made legally without his permission. In those cases...the client would need something similar to a "release to print" where it states that they have permission to make copies for personal use (the legal wording can vary for this). I've come across photographers that do this....give clients a release of print so that clients that make copies....but the phographer still has copyright which means they can publish, make copies, or sell the pics anyway they want (basically its their property).

** On a side note....I totally 2nd SCG...Please do NOT go to wal-mart for pics. There are much better options with better customer service.